It is not necessary to use force nor
violence to teach a dog what to do,
or what not to do. At Team Dog our education system applies only
scientifically positive methods which are without coercion or punishment.
When
a coercive method is not used, the dog itself assumes a positive attitude towards
learning, and displays willingness to 'work'. This 'work' is subsequently fun
for the dog to do!
Dogs love to pick up things, especially all Retrievers. They like to be useful,
and they respect their owner as they would a 'lead dog'.
We do nothing more that stimulate the dog's mental ability to do what is within
its own nature, motivating it with games and food.
To
reward a dog for good behaviour the trainer uses a bit of tasty food that the
dog is not used to. Some games and other types of praise can also be used that
the dog appreciates more than food.
In this way we stimulate the dog to associate an action with a reward until
the action itself becomes acquired by the dog.
The
clicker is a small
instrument that produces
a sound like a 'click'.
Technically the clicker is an
'events marker': when a dog behaves
in the right way, the trainer sounds a click and rewards him. This is repeated
until the dog associates good
behaviour and the clicking sound as reward.
